Unwrap our 2015 Ethical Tech Giving Guide

Submitted by Zak Rogoff on November 24, 2015 - 12:38pm

An activist sharing the Giving Guide at a Giveaway.

Electronics are popular gifts for the holidays, but people often
overlook the restrictions that manufacturers slip under the wrapping
paper. From remote deletion of files to harsh rules about copying and
sharing, some gifts take more than they give. The problems include DRM
but go beyond it -- any device running proprietary software, instead
of freely licensed software, is a locked box its users can't control
or understand.

The good news is that there are ethical companies making better
devices that your loved ones can enjoy on their own terms, free of
restrictions and DRM and proprietary software. Today, we're launching
the 2015 giving guide, your key to smarter and more ethical tech
gifts.

The giving guide has become a tradition, released every year
since 2010. But this year's is different. For the first time, we're
proud to feature a smartphone and two laptops that run free software
out of the box. These products didn't exist when we wrote last
year's guide -- they are the result of hard work by a growing
community of hacker entrepreneurs who deserve our wholehearted
support.

We need you to get the guide into the hands of people making holiday
shopping choices. Here's what you can do:

Lead a Giving Guide Giveaway at a local shopping area to show that
conscientious giving applies to computers and software. We've
prepared a
primer
to answer common questions and help make your Giveaway a success.

Email it to your family and friends -- heck, you might even get a
gift out of it!

Millions of people will open tech gifts this holiday season, and most
of them will be walled gardens encumbered with nonfree software and
DRM. But things are changing. With each year, our message spreads
further and more people start thinking critically about technology and
voting with their wallets. Join us in fueling the movement for ethical
tech -- use and spread this guide.